This weekend has been full of minute by minute media reporting on the Tiger Woods car accident that happened early Friday morning.  It appears that under Florida law Tiger is required to provide a limited amount of information to authorities.  He is not required to tell the authorities anything about what is going on in his life.  It is likely that the police want to make sure there is no domestic abuse occurring in the Woods household before moving on to more important law enforcement issues. 

Tiger has always tried hard to separate his public life from his private life.  It is very understandable why he wants to protect his wife, young children and himself from the ever present media that can put any small problem in front of the world at any time.  He continues to request privacy as he deals with the problems associated with his car accident.

However,  Tiger has reportedly taken down around $1B from winning golf tournaments and endorsements.  We see him in commercials all the time.  He is a huge public figure.  Many of us have used products and services that he has endorsed and we have effectively contributed to his income over the years.  Does that give us any right to know more about what is going on in his life?  I believe he has no obligation to tell us anything that is not required to fulfill his legal obligations.  Any additional information that Tiger wants to provide to the public is purely his decision.  It is a marketing decision that he has to make.  Tiger could retire right now and have enough money to take care of all of his obligations for the rest of his life.  He can drop out of the spotlight at any time if he wants to do so.  If Tiger has the desire  to try to win more major golf tournaments and gain future endorsements then he will be making the decision that his personal ambitions and additional wealth are more important to him than attempts by the media to invade his privacy.

There was a major problem of some type in the Woods household that was unresolved early Friday morning when Tiger had his car accident.  It is very unlikely that Tiger was going out for a milk run at 2:25 am.  There is a lot of stress on a family adjusting to life with two small children and a famous spouse that travels the world and is a target for all kinds of wierd people.  Wealth and fame don't eliminate the basic life stresses that occur in every family.  Hopefully, Tiger and his wife will work successfully through the issues that created a very public exposure that they didn't want to happen.

In the mean time the media will continue to focus on the private lives of all types of public people as they execute their business strategy.  The media is all about ratings, sales, and profit.  Public persons are a great source of material.  Anyone that steps into the public eye must realize that they are taking a potential risk of giving up much of their privacy.

TPM

During the past few weeks the price of gold has moved from below $1,000 per ounce to over $1,100 per ounce.  Advertising of various gold retailers has increased dramatically on the business news cable networks.  It is clear that the momentum to own gold is building in the US. 

The US dollar continues to sink in value in world markets against most other currencies that are not pegged to the US dollar.  The Euro zone is getting very antsy about a Euro worth $1.50 US.  They fear that their exports may be priced out of many markets in favor of products priced in devalued US dollars.  Most countries in the world want a lower valued currency relative to all others so they can export more goods and services.  Every nation needs jobs for its people.  Exports create jobs and build national wealth.

Even the US appears to have awakened from its economic slumber to some degree as the jobless rate increased to over 10 percent.  The US needs to create jobs like everyone else and a cheaper dollar make imports more expensive and US made products more competitive.  Our massive trade deficit has actually improved to some degree in recent months.  The Obama team in Washington talks about supporting a strong dollar policy but the numbers don't lie.  They are implementing a weak dollar policy by printing as many dollars as they can as fast as they can with a Federal Funds interest rate just above zero.  Washington's goal is to get the economy growing again so that more jobs can be created.  The Federal Reserve tells us that we should not expect any major upward movement in the Federal Funds rate anytime soon.  The Feds will be running the money printing machine for years into the future.

The global fiat currency game may come to an end in the years ahead.  Many countries that don't hold a lot of gold as part of the national monetary reserves are buying gold in the market.  For example, India recently purchased a huge amount of gold from the International Monetary Fund and other developing countries are expected to follow India's example in the near future.

For thousands of years gold has served as a primary store of wealth and been used for trading of all goods and services.  During wars gold has been the currency of last resort when no one will accept a fiat currency in payment for goods.  Historically, power has shifted around the world directly in proportion to the amount of gold held by any particular nation.

The US is lucky that its government still owns a lot of gold that is held at Ft. Knox.  We may need it some day to back the residual buying power of the US dollar when the rest of the world decides they are not going to continue to allow the US to print as much money as we want.

The price of gold bottomed at about $250 per ounce in 2001.  During the past eight years it has increased in US dollar terms by a factor greater than four.  How high will it eventually go?  We shall see the final number at some time in the future.  The bigger question is the purchasing power dollars will have when gold finally reaches its peak.

Will this process bring the use of fiat currencies to an end?  Are we within a few years of returning to gold backed currencies because a majority of world refuses to participate in the international politics of fiat currencies?

We shall see what happens and report on the outcome.

TPM